Maureen Roffey

A rhyming witch named Nell enjoys using her spells to play tricks on the unsuspecting in this British picture-book, credited first to Maureen Roffey, but with verse (according to the title page) by Bernard Lodge. Whether she's soaking a maid in her garden, by turning the flowers into showers, frightening two sleepy lords, by transforming their chairs into bears, or cheering up a schoolboy by making his books into rooks, Nell derives a great deal of satisfaction from her rhyming magic. But she soon discovers that it is possible to be "too clever by half," when her rhyming backfires, and it is she who is transformed...

Originally published in 1979, and very much out of print, Rhyming Nell is a book whose title I ran across quite by accident, while searching for witchy picture-books (a little pet project of mine), and, having never heard of it, or its creators, I promptly decided to track it down. The illustrations are cute, in a cartoonish way, and I appreciated the half-cut pages, which can be turned to reveal the result of Nell's spells. The text itself is quite fun to read, although a few of the scenes - the Indian snake-charmer, the whalers - feel a little dated. Still, for those who can access this at their library (there don't seem to be very many copies for sale, online), and who enjoy witchy picture-books, this might be an interesting vintage title to pick up!… (altro)